moodyBook 24: Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B. Cooney - 263 pages
My little synopsis:
Anaxandra is taken as a hostage from her little nameless island as a child to be companion to the daughter of a King. When her new home is destroyed by pirates, and she ends up being the only survivor, she assumes the identity of the dead princess and goes to Sparta with King Menalaus. However upon arriving there, Anaxandra quickly realises that the beautiful Helen of Sparta sees right through her lies and when the Trojans take away Greece's pride and joy, Anaxandra gets thrown into a serious of events that she can only survive by the will of her Goddess of Yesterday.
I found this book while randomly searching through Living Social on facebook. I added to my list and for some reason decided to order it from the library a couple of weeks ago (It's not like i don't have sixty-million books at home currently unread!). It's specifically aimed at young adults, but as long as a books got a good plot and decent writing, I'm not particularly concerned about its target audience. I really enjoyed the story. Anaxandra's own personal story is balanced very nicely with the ensuring war in Troy without it feeling as if either story is compromised. Probably my only dislike is the way Helen is portrayed. She's pretty damn nasty - not to mention, altogether blood-thirsty - in this story. However, having said that, it wasn't so much that I didn't agree with this take on her, but more that I've always preferred the notion that her going to Troy was a trapped woman escaping with her true love. So really, its a matter of me preferring the romantic version of events rather than any actual failing of the book. All in all, I recommend it - I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Book 25: Sacha Baron Cohen: The Unauthorized Biography: From Cambridge to Kazakhstan by Kathleen Tracy - 263 pages
My little synopsis:
Basically the story of Sacha Baron Cohen from the pre-Ali G days to post-Borat, pre-Bruno.
To tell the truth, this was pretty bad. There was little in it that couldn't have been found either on wikipedia or through a thorough search of Google. In fact, there were several photos in it sourced to Wikipedia! Some of the movie titles referred to were wrong, and most of the interviews and quotes were in reference to people besides Cohen. I can't say I didn't learn anything but I didn't have much knowledge about Cohen to begin with so it wasn't exactly a stretch. It was probably a waste of $4 I spent on it, but oh well!
Currently reading:
- From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology edited by Lawrence Cahoone - 600 pages
- The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Volume 2: The One Tree by Stephen Donaldson - 472 pages
- Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs - 315 pages
- Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee - 220 pages
And coming up:
- The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory - 486 pages
- Next by Michael Crichton - 540 pages
- Angels and Demons by Dan Brown - 620 pages
